Ibn ʿAdiyy said: al-Baghandī narrated to us; Suwayd ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn al-Ḥasan narrated to us, from Ibn al-Munkadir, from Jābir, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Every act of kindness is charity; whatever a man spends on his family and on himself is charity; whatever he spends to safeguard his honor is charity; and whatever expense he incurs, Allah guarantees its replacement—except what is spent on construction or on sin.” (1)

This ḥadīth is exceedingly singular (gharīb jiddan).

Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿArafah Nafṭawayh related: Muḥammad ibn Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī narrated to us; my father narrated to us; Suwayd ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn Mushir narrated to us, from Abū Yaḥyā al-Qattāt, from Mujāhid, from Ibn ʿAbbās—in a report traced back to the Prophet ﷺ—who said: “Whoever falls in love, conceals it, remains chaste, and is patient, Allah will forgive him and admit him to Paradise.” (2)

Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Qarāfī informed us; al-Mubārak ibn Abī al-Jūd informed us; Aḥmad ibn Abī Ghālib the ascetic informed us; ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAlī informed us; Abū Ṭāhir al-Mukhlis informed us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; Suwayd ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; Ziyād ibn al-Rabīʿ narrated to us, from Ṣāliḥ al-Dahhān, from Jābir ibn Zayd, who said:

“I examined the works of righteousness and found that prayer fatigues the body but not one’s wealth, and the same is true of fasting. Pilgrimage, however, wears out both wealth and body. Therefore, I concluded that the pilgrimage is superior to all of them.” (3)

The superiority of certain deeds over others is established solely by revealed texts, and several ḥadīths have been transmitted on the matter. Yet if we say, for example, “The best of deeds is prayer,” one must determine the quantity of prayer that renders it better than performing the pilgrimage once. The same applies when we say, “Prayer…"